Colorado avalanche victim went undetected for four hours

LOVELAND PASS, CO- APRIL 21, 2013: Scott Toepfer, right, a member of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center or CAIC, takes depth measurements every 50 feet at the crown of the avalanche on Sunday April 21, 2013. In the back round are Brian Lazar and John Snook walk along the crown to find an area to dig a snow pit to investigate the layers of snow where the avalanche broke off. The avalanche occurred in an area known as Sheep Creek near Loveland Pass on Saturday, April 20, 2013, killing 5 snowboarders. (AP Photo/The Denver Post,Helen H. Richardson) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES

Jerome Boulay was buried for about four hours with only his left forearm free and was able to scrape snow away from his face before rescuers found him, according a report by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center that investigated the slide that killed five men Saturday near Loveland Pass.

Boulay and his five friends were buried around 10:15 a.m., according to the report, which does not identify victims’ names. The Denver Post has determined the victims’ names and locations through interviews with rescuers.

About two hours after the slide, avalanche forecasters with the center noticed avalanche debris in the Sheep Creek drainage below Mount Sniktau while driving over Loveland Pass from Interstate 70. The two forecasters parked and walked to the debris and searched with avalanche beacons.

Boulay and his five friends, including two buried just beneath him and tangled in his legs, were wearing transceivers but they were too far away from the forecasters, who did not detect the pulsing signals of the buried men.

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The forecasters drove back down the pass to the closed Loveland Valley ski area, where snowboarders were participating in the Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Gathering, an event that was raising money for the avalanche center. At 1:30 p.m., the forecasters asked if anyone knew of the avalanche or if anyone from the event had triggered the slide on the flank of Mount Sniktau.

Several attendees, including Mike Bennett and Dan Pedrow, raced up the pass.

Two official rescuers from Loveland ski area arrived at the avalanche debris at 1:45. At the same time , having skinned up from the backcountry gathering to the top of the Loveland Valley ski area and noticed the avalanche above.

Pedrow and Bennett soon joined the search, with six rescuers scanning the debris field for beacon signals.

The first signal was on the west side of the debris field, closer to the summer road that connected the Sheep Creek drainage with the hairpin turn on Highway 6. That victim was six to eight feet deep. Bennett found Boulay on the east side of the debris field. Boulay confirmed there were two men buried beneath him; his friends Joe Timlin and Rick Gaukel.

Soon more rescuers arrived, including Loveland ski patrollers. The rescuers picked up two more beacon signals and the two remaining victims buried 10 feet to 12 feet deep, beyond the length of probe poles used to locate buried avalanche victims.

Two of the victims were wearing avalanche airbag packs that were not deployed. Others were wearing Avalungs, which allow buried avalanche victims to breath through a hose, but none had the Avalung mouthpiece in their mouths. The report says the group planned a short tour. The group of five snowboarders and one skier read the Colorado Avalanche Information Center avalanche bulletin for the day warning of “recent deep persistent slab avalanches” on the region’s north-facing slopes, including a fatal slide near Vail Pass two days earlier.

They “discussed the deep persistent slab problem,” reads the report.

They decided the safest route would be to start from the uppermost switchback on Loveland Pass and traverse along a summer road and cross the Sheep Creek drainage, just above a narrow ravine. The plan was to climb a few hundred vertical feet onto northwest-facing slopes on the flank of Mount Sniktau.

“They aimed to avoid the more north-facing slopes which they recognized as a threat, by crossing well below the start zone, in the runout zone, to reach what they deemed safer terrain,” read the report.

Four of the group were using splitboards - snowboards that split in half for ascending snow. One snowboarder was using approach skis and carrying his snowboard on his pack. Ian Lamphere was climbing with skis.

The group parked Timlin’s Toyota Tacoma at the pullout on the switchback along Highway 6. They skinned a few hundred yards along the old summer road until it reached the open alpine bowl that feeds the Sheep Creek drainage.

The group spread out, spacing 50 feet between each climber as they crossed the north-facing slope, practicing safe protocol beneath the north-facing slope. They aimed for a small knoll on the northeast side of the basin. Two members had reached the trees and the four others were following when they “felt a large collapse and heard a whumpf.”

“It took several seconds for the crack to propagate uphill and release the deep slab. In those several seconds, they all ran for the far end of the slope and towards the small stand of trees,” reads the report.